Valentines for Brody's class

This is the 3rd year in a row that I have made these cute crayon hearts for Brody's class.  They are beyond easy to make---you just need the heart shaped pan (mine is silicone which makes it super easy to get the crayons out), your oven, paper for the card part and crayons!  That's it!

Tip:  the easiest way to get the paper off of the crayons is to soak them in water.  The paper will just slide off.  I will tell you that Crayola crayons are the easiest ones to get the paper off.  Other brands are a little tougher.  I then break them up and throw them into the pan and pop the pan into the over at 250 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.  Let them cool in the pan and then pop them out!  Voila!

Brody's teacher wanted the kids to cut out their friends names and then put those on the valentines......so that was his job

Finished product!

2015 Oscars....so far

I have almost closed out the 10 "major" categories.  I only have one movie left......"Two Days, One Night".  There are some seriously great movies in these 10 categories.  I loved Whiplash, The Theory of Everything, Still Alice (sad but a very good movie) and Boyhood (I loved the fact that it was filmed over 12 years with all of the same actors).  There are also a few that I wasn't a fan of too......like Mr. Turner, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Inherent Vice.

The hardest categories to find online etc are "animated short film", "documentary short, and "live action short film".  I read in ET last week these will all be available online starting the week of the 17th---I won't get them all watched (because you have to pay for them and the time) but I will try!  :)

I need to see Interstellar to close out another 4 categories.

How many Oscar movies have you seen?

Brody gets to go to Busch Gardens for FREE again this year!

Brody at the park last year riding the "Lil Clydesdales"  

If you have a kid between the ages of 3 and 5 you should get this free preschool pass!  You can find the link HERE .  We got it last year for Brody and it was so easy.  You just fill out the info online and print out your pass!  TOTALLY FREE!  The only catch?  You must redeem your voucher for the pass by the end of May with proof of age at the park.  We went at the end of spring break last year to do this.  It's kind of annoying you can't just mail in a copy of their birth certificate or something but that is the only stipulation with this.

To make it even better......last year in Feb or March I found a Groupon for Busch Gardens tickets!  I paid $32 for each adult and $30 for Travis.  So when we went to validate Brody's pass I paid a total of $92 that day (normally it's $75 for everyone over 10 years old and $65 for kids 3-9).   Let's do that math for a second......the normal price for our family of 4 last year would have been $280 (Travis turned 10 in June so I got him a child's ticket for our April trip).......I paid $92 for our family of four.  That's almost a $188 savings!  What a deal!  You  know I will be trolling Groupon this year for that same deal again!  (and yes we probably spent at least $100 at the park in food and beer but who's counting right?  LOL)